Elsa tipped her head back as she admired the mountains that loomed in the distance, grey and glistening in the afternoon sunlight. Birds cheeped peacefully around her and the leaves of the trees that ran along one side of the road, rustled so quietly that she could only just hear them over the smooth rumbling of the car engine. Her smile deepened as she simultaneously congratulated herself herself on securing her hair so firmly, so that she could be admired alongside the glorious scenery. It would not have done to have it flying about her face, she would have looked quite inelegant. "The mountains are magnificent, Georg. Really magnificent," she told him happily.
"I had them put up just for you, darling," Georg replied with that charming ease of his that she did so enjoy, the hint of a smile playing around his lips.
"Oh," she sighed, her smile deepening as she realised that her charming Georg was back in place. The man she knew how to deal with, how to laugh with.
Max gave a wry chuckle as he added his penny worth, "Even if it's to a height of ten thousand feet, Georg always believes in rising to the occasion."
Elsa tittered at the joke, while Georg remarked warningly, "Unless the jokes improve, Max, I'm taking back my invitation."
"You didn't invite me to your villa. I invited myself," Max pointed out.
"Naturally," Elsa remarked easily, after all Max would not want to miss this time away, not when it held such great interest to him, and it didn't hurt her that his jokes seemed to ease Georg's moods at times, made the road smoother for her. He was also, in her opinion a better choice for a chaperone than Georg's sister would have been, because quite simply put, Max had no real interest in chaperoning anyone and that suited Elsa down to the ground.
Max gave a small shrug, the words simply flowed off his shoulders like water to a duck's back. "You needed a chaperone, and I needed a place to stay where the cuisine is superb, the wine cellar unexcelled and the price, uh, perfect," he replied.
Elsa laughed at his statement, "Max, you are outrageous," she told him.
"Not at all. I'm a very charming sponge," he assured her.
Elsa's laugh deepened and grew louder as they drove past a monastery hidden slightly from view by the thick trees, and yet the singing that emanated from it rang out as clear as a bell in the warm afternoon air.
"Listen," Max breathed out reverently.
"That's the Klopmann Monastery Choir," Georg informed him knowingly.
"They're good! Very good," he stated as he settled back into his seat, adding, "I must explore this territory in the next few days. Somewhere a hungry little singing group is waiting for Max Detweiler
to pluck it out of obscurity and make it famous at the Salzburg Folk Festival."
"They get the fame, you get the money," Georg remarked dryly, well used to his friend's ways by now.
"Tis unfair I admit it but someday that'll be changed. I shall get the fame, too," Max reassured them both.
Elsa laughed again at that statement as the car rolled past a grove of trees. Her laughter died off as she observed the masses of children who hung from the branches of said trees, yelling and laughing and making quite the cacophony of noise. "Good heavens, what's this?" she breathed out disapprovingly.
Georg dismissed the sight easily. "Oh, it's nothing, just some local urchins," he replied as they drove past the rabble. He saw a flash of dark and blonde heads and his eyes widened as discomfort tugged at him. No, he reassured himself, surely not.
The lake shimmered in the sunlight, the water lapping at its banks, and Georg felt his shoulders relax just from being at home, surrounded by these familiarities, the peace the quiet. He glanced to where Elsa was walking at his side, her elegant beauty enhanced by the peaceful surroundings while at the same time, in her elegant couture, she still managed to look completely out of place.
"This really is exciting for me, Georg, being here with you," she told him.
"Oh ho ho ho ho ho," he laughed, teasing her, "Trees, lakes, mountains. When you've seen one,
you've seen them all," he said, not meaning a single word of it.
"That is not what I mean and you know it," she scolded him.
"Ah, you-you mean me. I'm exciting."
"Is that so impossible?" she queried, her eyebrow arching as she smiled at him.
"No, just, uh, highly improbable."
"There you go, running yourself down again."
"Well, I'm a dangerous driver," he joked as he linked her arm in his and pulled her closer into his side. This was why she was here, he told himself, to bring her more into his life, and to ensure that they would truly suit before he made his proposal.
She laughed at his joke as they continued to walk, her arm still in his. Tilting her head to look up at him she told him, " You know, you're much less of a riddle when I see you here, Georg."
"In my natural habitat?"
" Yes, exactly."
"Are you trying to say that I'm more at home here among the birds and the flowers and the wind that moves through the trees like a restless sea, hmm?"
"How poetic!" She remarked.
"Yes, it was rather, wasn't it?" He let her laughter trickle over him before he continued, "More at home here than in Vienna? In all your glittering salons? Gossiping gaily with bores I detest? Soaking myself in champagne? Stumbling about to waltzes by Strausses I can't even remember? Is that what you're
trying to say?"
"More or less, yes," she admitted.
"Now, whatever gave you that idea?"
She laughed as she told him, "Oh I do like it here, Georg. It's so lovely, how can you leave it as often as you do?"
"Ah, pretending to be madly active, I suppose. Activity suggests a life filled with purpose."
"Could it be running away from memories?" She asked. Usually she did not stray into such deep, meaningful talks with him, but for once she felt she had to know what drove him, what made him the way he was.
He turned towards her "Mm hm. Or perhaps just searching for a reason to stay," he admitted, his eyes not meeting hers as he spoke.
"Oh, I hope that's why you've been coming to Vienna so often. Or were there other distractions there?" She was fishing for information now and she knew it.
"Oh, I'd hardly call you a mere distraction, darling," he chuckled.
"Well, what would you call me, Georg?"
"Mmmm. Lovely. Charming, witty, graceful. The perfect hostess." He watched as she inclined her head, accepted his compliments with well-practiced grace and feigned modesty. "And, uh, you're going to hate me for this - in a way, my saviour."
"Oh, how unromantic," she replied, but her eyes glittered in what looked like triumph.
He continued, telling her honestly, "Well, I'd be an ungrateful wretch if I didn't tell you at least once
that it was you who brought some meaning back into my life."
"Oh, I am amusing, I suppose," she laughed, acting coy at his words of praise. "And I do have the finest couturier in Vienna. And the most glittering circle of friends. And I do give some rather gay parties," Elsa supplied.
"Ho ho ho, yes," he agreed readily.
"But," she added, "take all that away and you - you have just wealthy, unattached little me .. searching just like you.
"Hmmm," Georg murmured as they walked towards the veranda, unable to think of a witty or meaningful reply to that, because he was yet to determine exactly what Elsa was searching for. He knew what he wanted, a wife and mother to return some form of normality to his home, to his life. Making his way up the stone steps onto the sun-soaked space, he saw Max tuck into yet another pastry, the man never appeared to stop eating, he marvelled to himself, choosing to comment aloud, "Still eating, Max, hm? Tch, tch. Must be unhappy."
"That marvelous mixed quartet I've been trying for months to steal away from Saul Feurock," he sighed as he looked up at them as mournfully as he could manage.
"What happened, darling?" Elsa enquired.
"Yesterday, Sascha Petrie stole them first. If there's one thing I hate, it's a thief," he informed them firmly.
Georg looked around himself, perturbed by how long the house and grounds had lain quiet for, remarking distractedly, "But, Max, you really must try and learn to, uh, love yourself."
"For this I had to call Paris, Rome and Stockholm," Max continued to lament.
"On Georg's telephone, of course," Elsa added.
"Well, how else could I afford it?" He asked before settling back in his chair and adding, "Oh, dear, I like rich people. I like the way they live. I like the way I live when I'm with them.
Georg continued to scan the grounds, the children should be partaking in their afternoon march by now and yet there was no sign of them. "I wonder where the children are," he muttered aloud.
"Obviously, they must have heard I was coming and went into hiding," Elsa replied dryly. In all honesty she could wait to meet the seven hellions she had heard so much about. She was of course willing to put up with them for Georg's sake, but she was certainly not about to play mother to them.
"I was hoping they'd be here to welcome you," he told her, a glare crossing his features. No doubt Fraulein Maria had something to do with their absence. Well, he would just have to find them himself, he would not have this uncertainty looming over the day. "Uh, Max, uh, do step out
of character for a moment and, uh, try and be charming," he told his friend as he strode into the house.
"Come on children, help me," Maria implored them as she tugged fruitlessly at the knotted rope. No doubt the Captain had been in here practising his knots because it was impossible to get it loose. She blew her fringe off her forehead for a brief second as she looked up at her charges.
Kurt looked at her doubtfully, "Are you sure that this is a good idea? Father doesn't like us to go anywhere near the lake."
"Has he ever given you a reason?" Maria asked them.
They all looked amongst each other before Liesl shook her head and replied, "No...but he was very firm about it."
"In the same way he was very firm about you all climbing trees?" she asked wryly.
They all had the grace to blush at that, studying their shoes rather intensely. "Gretl can't swim," Fredreich finally supplied.
"Ah, but we're not going swimming now, are we?"
"Well no," he muttered, "But..."
Maria sighed and straightened, her hands on her hips as she looked between them all. "If you don't want to go out onto the lake then we don't have to," she told them gently, "I just thought it might be fun."
"I think it would be fun," Louisa interjected, her tone almost stubborn as she glared at her siblings.
Laughing, Maria reached out and touched the young girl's cheek. "But I want you all to enjoy it, that's what this summer is all about."
The seven children all looked around each other and gave each other a collection of small nods before turning back to their governess, Liesl telling her excitedly, "We want to do it."
"Good." Maria rubbed her hands together as she surveyed the small boat, adding, "Now all we have to do is get the boat free."
"I can do that," Fredreich told her confidently, proudly even. "Father taught me all about knots when I was younger." He grinned as she stepped aside and quickly undid the knot before shooting his siblings a triumphant grin as he clutched the rope in his hand. "Told you."
"Well done, Fredreich," Maria congratulated him, taking the rope from his hand and holding the boat steady. "Now everyone in."
His house was eerily silent, and on any other day Georg would have been grateful for that, but today it tugged at the edges of his stomach, made him feel uncomfortable, the way he had whenever he felt an enemy attack was approaching. His teeth gritted, he could not believe he had just compared that flighty young postulant to an armed attack.
His fingers twitched against the pocket that his whistle was safely encased in. He did not want to dwell on why he was so reluctant to use it at this moment in time, but he could not quite wipe that look of horror Fraulein Maria had shot him out of his mind.
They weren't here, he finally realised with some disgust. The schoolroom was empty, the silence within it almost mocking. His glare deepened as he stormed back down the stairs, that blasted girl had quite clearly ignored every one of his instructions, not that that fact even surprised him, but still the nerve of her!
Stepping out onto the veranda at the east wing of the house his temper prickled once again as he caught sight of that boy Rolfe throwing pebbles up at his daughter's bedroom. Apparently, his whole world had fallen about his ears while he had been in Vienna. "What are you doing there?" he shouted out, glaring at him.
The boy jumped, whirling round to face him guiltily. " Oh, Captain Von Trapp, I was just looking for- I didn't see- I mean, I didn't know you were-" He jumped to attention, giving the Nazi salute that made Georg's stomach lurch as he chanted, "Heil Hitler!"
Knowing that Max and Elsa had tracked him down and were approaching from behind him, Georg forced himself to try and keep his cool, and despite knowing full well who the boy was, asked coldly, almost dismissively. "Who are you?"
The boy ignored the question, stepping forward, envelope in his outstretched hand as he informed them self-importantly, "I have a telegram for Herr Detweiler."
"I'm Herr Detweiler," Max confirmed, his eyes wary.
"Yes, sir." He stepped upwards onto the veranda, offering the telegram to Max. Georg felt his temper begin to boil over and wanting the boy gone from his sight snatched it instead before pushing it in Max's direction. His eyes fixed coldly on the boy he told him sharply, "All right. You've delivered your telegram. Now, get out."
Rolfe looked down at his shoes angrily for a moment before turning on his heel and making for his bike, cycling furiously away.
Elsa gave a short sigh. "Oh, Georg. He's just a boy," she tried to chastise gently.
" Yes. And I'm just an Austrian," Georg returned tensely.
"What's going to happen is going to happen. Just make sure it doesn't happen to you," Max replied unthinkingly, as he began to unfold hid telegram.
"Max! Don't you ever say that again!"
The older man looked up at his friend in surprise, it had been a long while since he had seen Georg snap. "You know I have no political convictions," he replied in an attempt to placate him. "Can I help it if other people do?"
"Oh, yes, you can help it!" He looked at him warningly, his voice softening slightly as he added, " You must help it."
Max tapped the telegram against his fingertips before turning away, slightly flustered but deciding that escape was the quickest and wisest decision when Georg was in such a mood.
Georg leaned against the veranda's railing, his head bowed. Elsa eyed him sympathetically as she stepped forward until she was standing next to him, cooing quietly, "Hello?" When he did not reply or acknowledge her, she added, "You're far away. Where are you?"
"In a world that's ... disappearing, I'm afraid," he muttered, almost to himself.
" Is there any way I could bring you back to the world I'm in?"
Georg smiled at the Elsa, his mouth opening to give some light, hopefully witty reply when he heard a cacophony of noise and laughter and his head jerked towards the lake. That girl was at the prow of the boat, the children singing some off-key song as the boat rowed jerkily along the shallow edge of the lake.
He truly could not believe his eyes as he stepped out across the terrace, they were in the same outfits those ruffians clinging to those trees earlier in the day had been in. He had told her to instil order and discipline and instead she had dragged them about the countryside looking like urchins! Georg pulled the gate open, no longer caring that Elsa was behind him, no longer caring if she saw his anger. He rested his hand on his hip as he waited impatiently for them to reach the small dock.
His children all let out screeches of delight when they saw him, a sound he barely recognised as coming from them, it had been so long since he'd heard it. And as he listened to their happy cries he felt his anger begin to diminish slightly, and that was when he saw her. Her blonde hair was glinting in the sun and a smile broke across her face as she clamoured to her feet, "Oh! Oh, Captain! You're home!"
His eyes widened, the daft girl was standing on a small boat! He watched as it rocked dangerously and she waved her arms wildly in an effort to stabilize herself. His mouth opened, as he got ready to shout out a warning, but it was too late and the boat tipped, sending the eight aboard flying into the water.
The children let out peals of laughter at their situation, as Louisa grabbed Gretl and hugged her tightly. Georg felt his anger flare once again, this time deeper and stronger, his youngest couldn't swim and that foolish girl had put her at risk. She had put all of them at risk, they were in shallow water, they could have hit their heads, become trapped underneath the boat. He counted heads quickly before shouting, "Come out of that water at once!"
Grabbing hold of the tow rope, Maria shouted from the water, "Oh! You must be Baroness Schraeder!"
Staring at the young postulant and her soaked charges, Elsa struggled to contain her laughter, but managed to pull her lips straight when Georg glanced at her, knowing that he wasn't impressed by this moment.
The children all poured onto the terrace, their clothes sticking to their skin as they all chattered away excitedly, despite the chattering of their teeth. Georg stared at them all in disbelief, where had his well-behaved children gone? What on earth had she done? Unthinkingly he wrenched his whistle from his pocket and letting out one sharp blast from it, silenced his children instantly and sent them flying into their customary line. "Straight line!" he instructed them as he paced back and forth in front of them, pausing at Louisa he noted the rag that was wrapped around her hair and pulled it free, clutching the sodden piece of material in disgust. He looked towards Elsa and attempting a smile for her sake, told them, "This is Baroness Schraeder..." His smile faded as he turned back to face his ragged children and his tone resigned, told her, "... and these, are my children."
Elsa gave a small nod. "How do you do?" She offered quietly, in these circumstances she was truly stuck for words, she couldn't make conversation with children at the best of times, never mind when they stood there like little drowned rats.
"All right. Go inside, dry off, clean up, change your clothes," Georg instructed his children, " and report back here! Immediately!"
Watching as the children scurried into the house Maria frowned and shook her head. She had hoped that seeing his children so happy and settled would soften the Captain slightly, but apparently, she had been wrong. She made to follow them, to comfort them and raise their spirits after such a disappointing greeting from their Father.
Those plans were dashed however when he called after her, "Fraulein, you will stay here, please!"
She stopped dead, keeping her back to him as she took in a deep calming breath, before finally turning to face him, careful to keep her face impassive.
Elsa looked between the pair, their jaws were equally tense as they stared each other down, it was probably best that she didn't stay here, she realised quickly. She was not so secure in her position that she was comfortable in involving herself in any decisions regarding Georg's children...and there had been so many of them. She glanced towards Georg, telling him, "Uuh, think I'd better go see what Max is up to." She made her way past the young governess in her plain sodden dress and for a moment felt a flash of pity for the girl who was about to find herself locked back in some dreadful convent. She only just repressed a shudder at that thought.
Georg took in a deep breath as he watched Elsa sashay elegantly back towards the house. He looked back towards his errant governess and twisting the rag of material between his fingertips, he finally spoke, his voice low, almost dangerously quiet, "Now, Fraulein. I want a truthful answer from you."
"Yes, Captain?"
"Is it possible or could I have just imagined it - have my children by any chance been climbing trees today?"
"Yes, Captain," she confirmed cheerfully.
"I see. He held up Louisa's head scarf, "And where, may I ask, did they get these, um, these, uh ...?" He trailed of, he had no idea what this monstrosity was supposed to be.
"Play clothes," she supplied helpfully.
"Oh, is that what you call them?" He asked, he could not believe the nerve of her, her head was still tilted high, her expression defiant as her eyes gleamed at him.
" I made them," she told him proudly, adding, "from the drapes that used to hang in my bedroom."
The colour drained from his face as he threw the rag from his hand and heard it hit the ground with a wet plop. "Drapes!" he repeated in disbelief.
She nodded, a wide smile across her face. "They still had plenty of wear left. The children have been everywhere in them."
If it had been anyone else he would have thought they were jesting, but with her that was far too much to hope for. "Do you mean to tell me that my children have been roaming about Salzburg dressed up in nothing but some old drapes!"
"Mm-hmm. And having a marvellous time."
"They have uniforms!" He barked at her.
"Straitjackets, if you'll forgive me." Although to be honest she was past caring if he didn't. The pompous, arrogant...she shook away such uncharitable thoughts. He should be putting his children before his delicate sensibilities.
He shook his dark head. "I will not forgive you for that."
"Children cannot do all the things they're supposed to do if they have to worry about spoiling their precious clothes all the ..."
He interrupted her, "I haven't heard them complain yet."
"Well, they wouldn't dare. They love you too much. They fear you too much," she chastised.
Georg bristled, not wanting to recognise the truth in her words. "I don't wish you to discuss my children in this manner," he told her dismissively.
"Well, you've got to hear from someone. You're never home long enough to know them."
"I said I don't want to hear any more from you about my children," he re-iterated. He would not let this slip of a girl lecture him on parenting, he would not stand for it.
"I know you don't! But you've got to! Now, take Liesl..."
He held his hand up, "You will not say one word about Liesl, Fraulein ..."
She continued regardless, ignoring his warning, "She's not a child anymore. One of these days you're going to wake up and find she's a woman. You won't even know her. And Friedrich. He's a boy
but he wants to be a man like you and there's no one to show him how."
"Don't you dare tell me about my son!"
"Brigitta could tell you about him if you'd let her get close to you. She notices everything."
"Fraulein..." He warned her one more time, his voice as sharp as a razor.
"And Kurt pretends he's tough not to show how hurt he is when you brush him aside..."
"That will do!"
Still, she continued, the words beating at his head, unleashing doubts that he had long tried to hide "The way you do all of them. Louisa, I don't know about..."
"I said, that will do!" He wanted her to stop, needed her to stop talking.
"But someone has to find out about her, and the little ones just want to be loved. Oh, please, Captain, love them, love them all!" She stepped forward, her eyes wide, her hands outstretched and her tone almost pleading with him.
He turned away from her, he would not listen to this, would not be lectured to by her. "I don't care to hear anything further from you about my children!
"I am not finished yet, Captain!"
He turned on his heel to face her once more, shouting back, "Oh, yes, you are, Captain!"
Maria looked at him, startled into silence as she blinked at him, unsure now as to how to continue.
"Fraulein," he corrected himself, she had had him so rattled, so on edge that for a moment he had felt as though he were the one who was being reprimanded. He would not stand for it, would not have her in his house for a moment longer. " Now, you will pack your things this minute ..." The sound of singing washed over him, and he blinked, trying to shut it out as he continued, "... and return to the Abbey ...
The singing continued, "With the sound of music."
He blinked again, turning slightly towards the house as he asked, "What's that?"
"It's singing."
"Yes," he sighed irritably, "I realize it's singing but who is singing?"
"The children," she replied.
He looked at her in astonishment. "The children?" He echoed.
Maria gave a small nod. "I taught them something to sing for the Baroness," she tried to tell him.
But he was already gone, striding towards the house. Maria watched him go and gave a small sigh, she had tried, truly tried to reunite this family and her efforts had been in vain, and now she was going to have to leave these children here, to return to a life of rules and regulations.
Her head bowed, she walked towards the house, stopping slightly as she saw the Captains frame standing in the doorway, watching his children silently, her hopes flickering at the sight of him.
Georg stared into the room, his head nodding along to a song he thought he had long forgotten. His children were dressed in their uniforms now, but their hair was still wet and sticking to their skulls. He saw the innocence in their faces, heard the pureness in their voices and he remembered how Agathe had sang to them, how they had all sang together. She would have hated their home now, would have hated what had happened in her absence and as much as wished to ignore it he could no longer sweep his actions under the carpet.
He had missed them, he realised with a short sharp pain, had missed the way that they had brightened his day. For a while they had each reminded him of his loss and it had been easier to shut them all out than to face it, but now, now he saw how wrong he had been. Unthinkingly he stepped forward, singing with them for a few notes.
They all stop suddenly and stare at him in surprise as he continued to sing on his own, trying to show them that he had changed, that he was not going to let things continue the way they had been. As the song faded to a natural end, he offered them a faint, nervous smile, stepping hesitantly towards them. It was Brigitta who ran over first, wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him tightly. He grasped her to him as the rest of his children suddenly rushed towards him and he could not help but laugh joyously as he realised they had so easily given him the forgiveness he suddenly realised he was desperate to have. His children laughed with him, all reaching for him, and he acknowledged all of them in turn.
He did not see Maria in the doorway, did not see her small nod of encouragement to his youngest child, but he did see Gretl step forward, offering Elsa a small bouquet of white flowers shyly.
"Edelweiss!" Elsa breathed out, admiring the small token, her smile widening when Gretl gave a small curtsey. "Oh!" she sighed, leaning forward to offer an awkward hug to the undeniably sweet little girl. "You never told me how enchanting your children are," she remarked to Georg.
He gave a somewhat helpless shake of his head; he had barely realised that for himself of late, he'd been much too busy wallowing in his own grief. He turned slightly and caught sight of Fraulein Maria in the doorway, saw her shrink back and rush out of the doorway, no doubt heading for the stairs.
" Don't go away," he whispered to his children. He had to fix this, he could not let this girl slip away, not when he had so much ground to make up with his children. He could not do that on his own, he needed her help. He strode out into the hallway. Catching her on the staircase. "Fraulein..." he called out.
Maria hesitated before turning to face him, her shoulders straightening as she waited for his next blow, and so his next words surprised her. He looked slightly shamefaced as he admitted, " I ... I behaved badly. I apologize."
She shook her head. "No, I'm far too outspoken. It's one of my worst faults," she told him. If he was willing to make a concession, then so was she.
He continued, needing to get the words out so that they didn't fester inside him. "You were right. I don't know my children."
"There's still time, Captain. They want so much to be close to you," she assured him.
"And you've brought ... music back into the house? I'd forgotten," he admitted.
She gave a nod as she turned to go back up the stairs, at least now she could leave knowing that the children could be happy and settled once again.
"Fraulein," he called again.
She stopped again, looking at him nervously, biting down on her bottom lip.
"I want you to stay," he admitted and then as she stared at him in disbelief, he realised that he had yet again made it sound like an order, he smiled contritely as he corrected himself, "I, uh, ask you to stay."
She wanted to stay, she wanted to stay so badly that it almost hurt. These children meant the world to her and she wanted to continue to care for them. "If I could be of any help," she finally replied.
"You have already. More than you know," he told her sincerely.
Their eyes met and she gave him the briefest of nods, confirming that she would stay with him, with them, he corrected himself quickly, not wishing to dwell on where that thought had come from. They shared the smallest of smiles before they went their separate ways.